Quotes from Ed Koch

I never doubted that I would be a good mayor. I never did.

If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.

I injured myself politically when I took on Jesse Jackson' in the 1988 presidential campaign. I was too strident. I didn't recognize the emotional tie that he had with all black voters.

Whenever I leave Manhattan, I get the bends!

If I were running against Chuck Schumer. I would take every one of his Sunday press releases - and there are 52 for as many years as he's been there - and I would ask, 'How many of the things he said he was proposing became law?' I doubt many.

If you don't like the President, it costs you 90 bucks to fly to Washington to picket. If you don't like the governor, it costs you 60 bucks to fly to Albany to picket. If you don't like me - 90 cents.

I wake up every morning and say to myself, Well, I'm still in New York. Thank you, God.

We're in the hands of the state legislature and God, but at the moment, the state legislature has more to say than God.

God gave me a very good hand to play over my 88 years. I have no regrets.

Maybe he just looks good compared to the bores he's running against.

There was always a love-hate relationship with New York in the rest of the country, but I made them feel more love than hate.

It's a lot more fun being a critic than being the one criticized.

Be different-if you don't have the facts and knowledge required, simply listen. When word gets around that you can listen when others tend to talk, you will be treated as a sage.

The person who is bent on killing you will follow you wherever you are.

I think that every Saturday, we ought to say, 'My father's a Jew, my mother was a Jew, and I'm a Jew,' with great pride.

I probably enjoy campaigning more than most other people in public office because I like people and I enjoy going out there and telling people what I've done.

In a neighborhood, as in life, a clean bandage is much, much better than a raw or festering wound.

It happens that I'm heterosexual, but I don't care about that. I do care about protecting the rights of 10 percent of our population who are homosexual and who don't have the ability to protect their rights.

I'm confident President Obama will continue his unambiguous commitment to the Jewish state in his second term.

Manhattan is an accumulation of possible disasters that never happen.

The city is the size of a country, but has been operated like a candy store.

The knife of corruption endangered the life of New York City. The scalpel of the law is making us well again.

I like to think that I'm one of the few people in public life who write their own material. I write every word. And I really enjoy writing - especially my political commentary.

No, I am not a homosexual. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the courage to say so. What's cruel is that you are forcing me to say I am not a homosexual. This means you are putting homosexuals down. I don't want to do that.